Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Gluten-Free Pie

Scrumptious Gluten-Free Chocolate Meringue Pie 





I was experimenting in the kitchen today and came up with a wonderful 
gluten-free recipe.  I've been living gluten-free for some time now 
and have tried quite a few disappointing recipes...


This chocolate pie was a huge hit, the whole family loved it.
This is a big plus since usually I get an instant turn of the nose because it's gluten-free.


It has a heavenly chocolate custard resting on a thick flaky, almost salty crust, topped with a springy meringue.

Silkaspider's Chocolate Pie


Chocolate filling ingredients:
6 tablespoons of cocoa
1 1/8 cups of sugar
7.5 tablespoons of rice or corn flour
3/8 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cups of milk
3/4 teaspoon of vanilla
3 egg yolks beaten slightly
1 1/2 tablespoons of butter

Meringue ingredients:
3 egg whites
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons of sugar

Pie Crust ingredients:
2 cups corn flour
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2/3 cup of butter or shortening
1/3 cup of ice water


Technique:
Make your pie crust first, just mix all together, but don't over work the dough. Press into a larger pie plate (I used a 9 1/2" that was extra deep) and bake at 350° till golden brown.

Secondly make your filling by mixing your cocoa, sugar, flour, salt, milk and eggs with a whisk or hand mixer on low.  Cook while stirring on medium heat until bubbly and thick, about ten minutes.  Be sure to get it as thick as you want because it won't thicken more in the oven.  Spoon into the cooked pie crust.

Next beat your egg whites with the salt till they get fluffy, then add the sugar, and beat on high until you can make peaks in them.  Make sure you start with a dry bowl, as a little water can ruin your meringue.

Finally spread the meringue on the chocolate filling, making the peaks by softly tapping the spoon on the meringue.  Bake at 350° until the peaks are lightly browned.


Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Face painting at the Zoo




This was done at the Alexandria Zoo in Alexandria, Egypt.  
The guy was amazingly fast and finished in about 5 minutes!
I'm not sure what they used for paint, but it came off very easy with only water,
and didn't even stain my son's face green!

Friday, June 8, 2012

Jello didn't set?




Make fruit salad...

Our jello didn't set last time we made it, and it was too late to go to the store.
I cut up some apples, bananas, kiwi, and strawberries then covered it all 
with some fresh squeezed lemon.
My son and I absolutely loved it...
When life hands you lemons make lemonade!